Child-resistant packaging for tablets

ABSTRACT

A child-resistant yet senior-friendly packaging for tablets, capsules or similar pharmaceutical products. The packaging is a blister pack ( 122 ) with at least one cup ( 134 ) that receives tablets ( 130 ) in an external package ( 120 ), arranged between a base part ( 124 ) and a cover part ( 128 ), and that is closed by a cover film ( 136 ) that can be pressed through. An intermediate part ( 126 ) is covered by a cover part ( 18 ). A first adhesive ( 30 ) is arranged between the base part ( 14 ) or the blister pack ( 122 ) and the base part ( 124 ). The intermeiae part ( 126 ) includes a first opening tongue ( 142 ) that is preferably linked with the intermediate part ( 126 ) via a first perforated line ( 144 ) so that it can be detached, and, within said first opening tongue ( 142 ), a second opening tongue ( 146 ) that is preferably linked with the first opening tongue ( 142 ) via a second perforated line ( 148 ) so that it can be detached. The second opening tongue ( 146 ) can be detached from the first opening tongue ( 142 ) once the first opening tongue ( 142 ) is removed from the intermediate part ( 126 ) and exposes the cover film ( 136 ).

This is a 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP00/04329, field onMay 12, 2000, that has benefit of European Patent Application No.99810481.4, filed on Jun. 2, 1999.

The invention concerns a child-safe packing for tablets, capsules andsimilar pharmaceutical products, with a blister pack with at least onecup to hold the tablets or capsules sealed by a push-through cover film.

The danger of unsupervised consumption of drugs is undisputed, where inparticular small children are greatly exposed to this potential riskespecially when drugs are left lying around.

Blister packs have become the predominant form of packaging for tabletsand capsules. Push-through packs, in which the tablets are pushedthrough a cover film from a cup in the base of the packing, have becomevery common. In other known blister packs a cover film is removed bypeeling. Other blister packs have a notch as a tear aid.

The possibilities exploited today for increasing the child-safety ofsaid blister packs for tablets and capsules consist of rendering openingmore difficult by measures which require increased force, e.g. thickerpush-through films, stronger adhesion of peel films or high tearresistance at tear notches.

Packs which can only be opened with increased use of force are indeedchild-safe but can constitute a problem for the elderly.

The invention is therefore based on the task of providing a child-safepacking of the type described above which can be opened withoutdifficulty by the elderly. This is essentially a matter of designing thepacking in such a way that combination ability is required orsimultaneous or complex movement sequences have to be performed.

To solve the problem in accordance with the invention therefore theblister pack is arranged in an outer pack between a base part and acover part, and optionally an intermediate part is fixed between theblister pack and cover part or between the blister pack and base part,where the cover part and, if an intermediate part is provided, theintermediate part form an opening part which is removable from the coverpart or from the intermediate part or from the cover film to expose thecover film.

Opening of the pack in accordance with the invention requires acombination ability in the sense that before pushing through the tabletat least one part has to be removed to expose the cover film.

Advantageously, the cup of the blister pack projects outward from theplane formed by the base part, where in the simplest case the cup of theblister pack penetrates an opening in the base part. If the base part ismade of a moldable material, a cup can also be formed from this and thecup of the blister pack can be arranged in the cup of the base part.

In a preferred version of the packing according to the invention theopening part is preferably a tear-off strip connected to the cover partby means of a weakening line, especially a perforation line.

In a variant of the pack in accordance with the invention in which anintermediate part is placed between the blister pack and the cover part,the cover part may have a tear-off strip which is preferably detachablyconnected to the cover part by a first perforation line and which atleast partially exposes the intermediate part.

The opening part can for example be a tear-off strip preferablyconnected to the intermediate part by way of a second perforation line.

The opening part may also be detachably connected to the cover film andremovable from this by peeling. For this the opening part can forexample be connected to the cover film by means of an adhesive or form aseparable laminate together with the cover film.

In a particularly low cost production variant the outer pack consists ofa single cut-out.

A double pack can easily be made from two part pickings arranged mirrorsymmetrically.

In a further variant of the packing according to the invention with anintermediate part placed between the blister pack and the cover part, afirst opening tab can be arranged, preferably detachably connected tothe intermediate part by way of a first perforation line, and inside thefirst opening tab can be placed a second opening tab, preferablydetachably connected to the first opening tab by means of a secondperforation line to form the opening part, where the second opening tabis detachable from the first opening tab after the first opening tab hasbeen detached from the intermediate part to expose the cover film.

At least two packs can be joined together to form multi-portion packs,where the individual packs arranged next to each other form amulti-strip pack and are preferably detachable from the strip pack alonga weakening line, preferably a perforation line.

For production of the packing according to the invention, rigid,semi-rigid and flexible materials known today for the production ofpacking, in the form of sheets, films, laminates or other layermaterials in a thickness from a few mm to a few mm, preferably 8 mm to 3mm, can be used. Examples of film-like materials are metal foils such asaluminum foil. Other examples of film-like materials are paper,semi-cardboard and cardboard. Particularly important areplastic-containing films, e.g., those based on polyolefins such aspolyethylenes or polypropylenes, polyamides, polyvinyl chloride,polyesters such as polyalkylene terephthalates and, in particular,polyethylene terephthalate. The plastic-containing films can bemonofilms of plastics, laminates of two or more plastic films, laminatesof metal and plastic films, laminates of papers and plastic films orlaminates of paper and metal and plastic films. The individual layers ofthe film-like materials can be attached to each other by means ofadhesives, pastes, adhesive promotion agents and/or by extrusioncoating, coextrusion or laminating, etc. Suitable plastic films are, forexample, non-oriented or axially or biaxially oriented monofilms orlaminates of two or more non-oriented or axially or biaxially orientedfilms of plastics based on polyolefins such as polyethylenes orpolypropylenes, polyamides, polyvinyl chloride, polyesters such aspolyalkylene terephthalates and, in particular, polyethyleneterephthalate, cyclo-olefin-copolymers (CO) andpolychloro-trifluoroethylene (PCTFE, trademark ACLAR).

Particularly suitable for the base parts of blister packs aretransparent plastics with good molding properties such as polyethylene,polypropylene, cyclo-olefin-copolymers (COC), polyvinyl chloride,polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide and laminates made from saidmaterials, e.g., PVC and polychloro-trifluoroethylene (PCTFE) or PVC andPVDC (polyvinyldichloride). For non-transparent blister packs, forexample, laminates are used of an aluminum film coated on both sideswith a plastic film with, for example, the structurepolyamide/aluminum/PVC or pigmented plastic films. The cover film isusually an aluminum film of, for example, a thickness of 20 mm that canbe painted and/or coated with a hot seal lacquer.

All of the above film-like materials such as paper, semi-cardboard,cardboard and plastic films in the form of monofilms, laminates, etc.,can have at least one further continuous layer of ceramic materialssputtered or deposited from a vacuum in a thickness of approximately 5to 500 nm (nanometers), for example, Al₂O₃ or SiO_(x), where x is anumber between 1.5 and 2. These layers of ceramic materials have barrierproperties and prevent the diffusion of gases and water vapors throughthe packing.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention arise from thedescription of preferred embodiments below and the drawings; these showdiagrammatically

FIG. 1 a longitudinal section through a first embodiment of a blisterpack with an outer pack;

FIG. 2 a top view of the outer pack illustrated in FIG. 1 viewed indirection y;

FIG. 3 a longitudinal section through the partially opened blister packwith outer pack as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 a top view of a cut-out for manufacture of the outer pack asshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 a longitudinal section through a blister pack of the same designas FIG. 1 with outer pack in the form of a double pack;

FIG. 6 a longitudinal section through a second embodiment of a blisterpack with outer pack;

FIG. 7 a top view of the opened outer pack shown in FIG. 6 viewed indirection y;

FIG. 8 a longitudinal section through the partially opened blister packwith outer pack as shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 a top view of a cut-out for manufacture of the outer pack asshown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 a longitudinal view through a blister pack of the same design asshown in FIG. 6 with outer pack in the form of a double pack;

FIG. 11 a top view of a blister pack with outer pack as shown in FIG. 6,designed as a multiportion pack;

FIG. 12 a longitudinal view through a third embodiment of a blister packwith outer pack;

FIG. 13 a top view of the opened outer pack as shown in FIG. 12, viewedin direction y;

FIG. 14 a longitudinal view through the partially opened blister packwith outer pack as shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 a longitudinal view through the partially opened blister packwith outer pack as shown in FIG. 14 after a further opening step.

A first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 of an outer pack 10 made, forexample, from double- or multi-layer aluminum and polypropylene (PP)foil laminate for a blister pack 12 of essentially strip-like form has abase part 14 and a cover part 16. The blister pack 12—in the exampleshown as a single-portion pack for one tablet 18—has a base part 20 of,for example, polyvinylchloride (PVC) with a cup 22 molded in said basepart to hold the tablet 18, and a cover film 24 made, for example, ofaluminum sealed or glued to the base part 20. A further cup 26projecting outward from the base part 14 of the outer pack 10 isprovided in the base part 14 of the outer pack 10 to hold cup 22 of theblister pack 12. The base part 20 of blister pack 12 rests inside thebase part 14 of the outer pack 10 and can, if necessary, be glued atleast partially to the latter. Instead of the cup, the base part 14 mayhave only a base opening matched to periphery of cup 22 of the blisterpack 12. Here the cup 22 penetrates the base opening and projectsoutwards from base part 14.

The cover part 16 of the outer pack 10 is connected as one piece to thebase part 14 and with this forms a loop, where the cover part 16 andbase part 14 lie approximately parallel opposite each other forming anintermediate space 28 to hold the blister pack 12 and connected togetherby adhesive points 40. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a tear-off strip 30 isintegrated in the outer pack 10 and is detachable from the cover part 16by means of a weakening line or perforations 32 arranged in linear form.The tear-off strip 30 runs across the cover part 16 and ends in the basepart 14 with a tear-off tab 34. In the top view the tear-off strip 30covers the cup 22 of the blister pack 12.

In order to remove the tablet 18, the tear-off tab 34 is first detachedfrom the base part 14 along its perforation line 32 and the tear-offstrip 30 is removed from the cover part 16 by performing an openingmovement in the direction of the arrow A. This procedure exposes thecover film 24 of the blister pack 12 and consequently in this openposition tablet 18 can be pushed through the cover film 24 by fingerpressure in the direction of the arrow B on the cup 26 in the base part14 and thus on the cup 22 of the blister pack 12, and ejected.

In the essentially strip-like cut-out for the outer pack 10 asillustrated in FIG. 4 the perforation line 32 indicates the weakened andtherefore easily detachable connection between the tear-off strip 30with tear-off tab 34 and the cover part 16 or the base part 14. Theblister pack 12 is already resting on the base part 14, in other wordsthe cup 22 of the blister pack 12 is positioned in the cup 26 in thebase part 14 of the outer pack 10. The outer pack 10 is closed byfolding the cover part 16 in the direction of the arrow C about a foldline c as far as the stop on the base part 14 and/or on the blister pack12. This step causes at least partial adhesion of the edges 36 of thecover part 16 to the edges 38 of the base part 14 by way of adhesivepoints 40.

An outer pack 50 for a blister pack 52 illustrated in FIG. 5—in theexample a two-portion pack for two tablets 18 a, b—is essentiallyconstructed of two outer packs 10 mirror-symmetrical to each other inaccordance with FIG. 1. The same parts therefore carry the samereferences, the double configuration being expressed by a suffix a or brespectively. The base parts 14 a, b are connected together as one pieceby an adhesive point 54 and the cover parts 16 a, b into the outer pack50 forming a closed loop. In this closed position, the two part outerpacks 10 a, b lie either side of a mirror plane S. The two-part outerpacks 10 a, b can be opened in the same way and the tablets 18 a, bremoved in the same way as for the outer pack 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1to 4.

A second embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 9 of an outer pack 60made, for example, of cardboard for a blister pack 62 of essentiallystrip-like shape has a base part 64 and a cover part 66. The blisterpack 62—in the example illustrated as a single portion pack for onetablet 68—has a base part 70 made, for example, of polyvinyl chloride(PVC) with a cup 72 molded from this to hold the tablet 68, and a coverfilm 74 of, for example, aluminum foil sealed or glued to the base part70. The cup 72 of the blister pack 62 penetrates a base opening 76 inthe base part 64 of the outer pack 60 that is matched to the peripheryof cup 72, and projects outwards from the base part 64. The base part 70of the blister pack 62 lies on the inside of the base part 64 of theouter pack 60 and may, if necessary, be at least partially glued tothis. Instead of the base opening 76, if the material allows, a cup canalso be molded from base part 64, i.e., in this case the cup 72 of theblister pack 62 would be held by the cup in the base part 64.

The cover part 66 of the outer pack 60 is connected as one piece withthe base part 64 and with this forms a loop, where the cover part 66 andthe base part 64 lie approximately parallel opposite each other formingan intermediate space 78 to hold the blister pack 62, and are connectedto each other by adhesive points 80.

An intermediate part 82 made for example of polyethylene terephthalate(PET) film is arranged in the intermediate space 78 between the blisterpack 62 and the cover part 66. A tear-off strip 85 is incorporated inthe intermediate part 82 and is detachable from the intermediate part 82by way of a weakening line or linear perforations 83. The free end ofthe tear-off strip 85 is laid in a loop to form a grip tab 84.

A tear-off strip 86 is incorporated in the outer pack 60 and isdetachable from the cover part 66 by way of a weakening line or linearperforations 88. The tear-off strip 86 runs over the cover part 66 andends at its free end in a tear tab 90. The tear-off strip 86 covers thecup 72 in the blister pack 62 when viewed from above. In order to removethe tablet 68, the tear-off strip is first separated from the cover part66 in the area of the tear tab 90 along the perforation line 88 andremoved from the cover part 66 by means of an opening movement performedin arrow direction D. In this procedure the intermediate part 82together with its integrated tear-off strip 85 is exposed, enabling thepull tab 84 to be seized and the tear-off strip 85 to be removed byseparating along the perforation line 83 in arrow direction E. Thisexposes the cover film 74 of the blister pack 62 and in this openposition the tablet 68 can then be pushed through the cover film 74 byfinger pressure on the cup 72 in arrow direction F and ejected.

In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the intermediate part 82consists of a separate film fixed only in the edge areas. A furtherpossibility consists of joining the intermediate part detachablydirectly to the cover film 74 such that the cover film 74 is exposedwhen the intermediate part or part thereof is pulled off. In thesimplest case, the intermediate part consists of a peel-off stripconnected to the cover film 74 by, for example, an adhesive. Theintermediate part 82 can, however, also form a separable laminate withthe cover film 74. An example of such a laminate is aluminum foil coatedwith hot sealing lacquer in a thickness from 20 to 50 mm, especially 20to 30 mm, preferably 20 to 25 mm, the aluminum foil being coated withPET foil in a thickness of approximately 10 to 30 mm, especially 12 to20 mm. The PET foil may have a further coating of paper. Theintermediate foil 82 in this case, therefore, consists of PET foil orPET foil coated with paper which can be pulled off the aluminum coverfilm 74, i.e., can be peeled off.

The essentially strip-like cut-out for the outer pack 60 illustrated inFIG. 9 shows the weakened and therefore easily separable connectionbetween the tear-off strip 86 together with the tear tab 90 and thecover part 66 as the perforation line 88. The blister pack 62 is alreadyresting on the base part 64, i.e. the cup 72 penetrates the base opening76. The outer pack 60 is closed by folding the cover part 66 in arrowdirection G about a fold line g as far as the stop on the base part 64or on the blister pack 62. This step causes at least partial adhesion ofthe edges 92 of the cover part 66 to the edges 94 of the base part 64.

An outer pack 100 for a blister pack 102 as illustrated in FIG. 10—inthis example a two-portion pack for two tablets 68 a, b—is essentiallyconstructed of two outer packs mirror-symmetrical to each other inaccordance with FIG. 6. The same parts are given the same references,where the double configuration is expressed by a suffix a or b. The baseparts 64 a, b are connected together as one piece by way of an adhesivepoint 96 and the cover parts 66 a, b into an outer pack 100 forming aclosed loop. In this closed position the two part outer packs 60 a, blie on either side of a mirror plane S. The two part outer packs 60 a, bcan be opened in the same way and the tablets 68 a, b can be removed inthe same way as for the outer pack 60 illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 9.

FIG. 11 shows a strip-like pack 110 with six individual packs accordingto FIG. 6 arranged next to each other. These can be separated from eachother by way of linear perforations 112. The individual outer packs 60can however also be opened without having to be separated from the strippack 110. A strip arrangement of this kind is also suitable for theouter packs 100 with a two-portion blister pack 102 in accordance withFIG. 10.

An embodiment of an outer pack 120 for a blister pack 122 shown in FIGS.12 to 15, of essentially strip-like form, is constructed in three layerswith a base part 124, a superimposed intermediate part 126 and a coverpart 128 on top of the intermediate part 126. The base part 124 and thecover part 128 are made, for example, of polyethylene terephthalate(PET) foils, the intermediate part 126 cardboard. The blister pack122—in the example illustrated as a single portion pack for one tablet130—has a base part 132 with a cup 134 molded in said base part to holdthe tablet 130, and a cover film 136 of, for example, aluminum sealed orglued to the base part 132. The cup 134 of the blister pack 122penetrates the openings 138 and 140 in the intermediate part 126 and/orin the base part 124 adapted to the periphery of the cup 134 andprojects outward from the base part 124 of outer pack 120. The base part132 of the blister pack 122 lies on the inside of the outer pack 120 andis at least partly glued to this. Instead of the base opening 140—wherethe material allows—a cup 125 can also be molded from the base part 124,i.e., the cup 134 of the blister pack 122 would in this case be held bythe cup 125 in the base part 124. The cup 125 is shown in FIG. 12 ininterrupted lines.

As shown in FIG. 13, a first opening tab 142 is integrated in theintermediate part 126 and detachable from the intermediate part 126 bymeans of a first weakening line or linear perforations 144. Inside thefirst opening tab 142 and also in the intermediate part 126 isintegrated a second opening tab 146 which is detachable from the firstopening tab 142 by way of a second weakening line or second linearperforations 148. The two perforation lines 144, 148 are separated fromeach other by an intermediate web 156.

The edges of the base part 124, the intermediate part 126 and/or thecover part 128 are at least partially glued to each other. The coverpart 128 is also glued to the intermediate web 156 situated between thetwo perforation lines 144, 146, where the cover part 128 also has aperforation line 144 in the intermediate part 126 congruent with thefirst perforation line 144.

In order to remove the tablet 130, the opening tab 142 is firstseparated from the first opening tab 142 along its first perforationline 144 and raised from the intermediate part 126 by means of anopening movement in arrow direction H. In this position the secondopening tab 146 can be separated along the second perforation line 148and detached from the first opening tab 142. With this procedure thecover film 136 of the blister pack 122 is exposed so that in this openposition the tablet 130 can be pushed through the cover film 136 byfinger pressure on the cup 134 in the direction of the arrow K andejected.

What is claimed is:
 1. A child-safe packaging for tablets, capsules andsimilar pharmaceutical products, having a blister pack with at least onecup to hold tablets sealed by means of push-through cover film, in whichbetween a base part and a cover part of an outer pack is arranged theblister pack, and between the blister pack and the base part is arrangedan intermediate part, the edge parts of the base part, the intermediatepart and the cover part, and also the blister pack and the intermediatepart, are at least partly glued together, from the cover part and theintermediate part can be detached a first opening tab bordered by afirst weakening line, and from the first opening tab can be detached asecond opening tab bordered by a second weakening line, with the coverpart and the intermediate part glued together in an area between thefirst and second weakening lines.
 2. The packaging according to claim 1,wherein the weakening lines are perforation lines.
 3. The packingaccording to claim 1, wherein the cup of the blister pack projectsoutward from the plane formed by the base part.
 4. The packing accordingto claim 3, wherein the weakening lines are perforation lines.
 5. Thepacking according to claim 3, wherein the cup of the blister packpenetrates an opening in the base part.
 6. The packing according toclaim 5, wherein the weakening lines are perforation lines.
 7. Amulti-portion pack of at least two packs in accordance with claim 5,wherein the individual pickings are arranged next to each other in amulti-strip pack.
 8. The multi-portion pack according to claim 7,wherein the individual pickings are separable from the strip pack alonga weakening line.
 9. The multi-portion pack according to claim 8,wherein the weakening line is a perforation line.
 10. The packingaccording to claim 3, wherein a cup is molded in the base part and thecup of the blister pack is arranged in a cup in the base part.
 11. Thepacking according to claim 10, wherein the weakening lines areperforation lines.
 12. A multi-portion pack of at least two packs inaccordance with claim 10, wherein the individual pickings are arrangednext to each other in a multi-strip pack.
 13. The multi-portion packaccording to claim 12, wherein the individual pickings are separablefrom the strip pack along a weakening line.
 14. The multi-portion packaccording to claim 13, wherein the weakening line is a perforation line.15. A multi-portion pack of at least two packs in accordance with claim3, wherein the individual pickings are arranged next to each other in amulti-strip pack.
 16. The multi-portion pack according to claim 15,wherein the individual pickings are separable from the strip pack alonga weakening line.
 17. The multi-portion pack according to claim 16,wherein the weakening line is a perforation line.
 18. A multi-portionpack of at least two packs in accordance with claim 1, wherein theindividual pickings are arranged next to each other in a multi-strippack.
 19. The multi-portion pack according to claim 18, wherein theindividual pickings are separable from the strip pack along a weakeningline.
 20. The multi-portion pack according to claim 19, wherein theweakening line is a perforation line.